Martin's worldwide training program, Acade·media, was officially launched on Tuesday, August 2nd, in Maidstone, England, where Martin UK's trainer, Chris West, taught participants "General Service of Intelligent Lights." West has been conducting training for Martin across the UK for three years, but this session marked the first time a Martin Acade·media course was presented.
"The products are quite complex and the customer base is constantly expanding," said Martin's international education manager Marc Anderson. "There is a huge demand for training and we have ambitious plans for meeting that demand. Today's session is the result of nearly two years of preparation. We've got a half-dozen courses ready to go. And when we have all the pieces in place, our goal is to be able to certify technicians and installers. Professional training is going to add a lot of value to our products."
"The idea behind Acade·media," West added, "is to use the expertise we have around the world to write courses that can be used throughout Martin. There's no point in every country developing its own courses when Martin has so many great resources to draw on. Sharing material means we'll be able to offer more courses and do more training at a higher level."
The 7-hour course went into the details of stepper motor control, lamp circuits, and power supplies before rounding off with maintenance and safety tips. Participants, who came from various backgrounds, had praise for the course. Graham Lovell from AC Lighting LTD summed it up best, "I'm impressed by the professionalism and seriousness they put into training. This was time well spent."
For more information and current course listings, visit the Acade·media web site at www.martin.com/academedia.